Innovation Report: Each university serves a different market and student type, but each has its own identity and philosophy. As the leader of Abu Dhabi University, what do you consider to be the identity or educational philosophy of your institution? What makes up the DNA of your university and your teaching?

Prof. Ghassan Aouad: The DNA of Abu Dhabi University is our commitment to providing the best learning experience to our students in a rapidly changing world. We're facing technological transformations, post-COVID syndromes, peace and security concerns, and health issues affecting every single student on earth. We're dealing with generations that are completely different from ours – they're ambitious, digital natives, tech-savvy, with immediate access to information.

We aim to produce graduates with the full package. Today, the technical degree might represent about 50% of a graduate's overall competency, with the other 50% focusing on soft skills and graduate attributes that help students excel in a competitive marketplace. The students, graduates, and the way we teach and they learn are no longer the same. This is what we're trying to address at Abu Dhabi University – providing the best learning experience within this changing environment.

Innovation Report: One of the biggest challenges for educators is the speed of change and how technology is shaping things. It's difficult to determine what students need today and what tomorrow's job market will require. Nobody can get that 100% right. What's your approach to ensuring your students will be prepared for the future when we can't be entirely certain where technology will take us?

Prof. Ghassan Aouad: There are different elements to this approach. First, I mentioned graduate attributes – we want to give our graduates in every discipline the attributes they need to excel in the marketplace, including communication skills, analytical skills, critical thinking, presentation skills, research skills, and digital skills that make them unique.

Our current academic programmes are topical, and we're launching 19 new programmes focused on disciplines where technology is crucial, along with addressing sustainability issues and climate change. We've developed bachelor's and master's degrees in artificial intelligence engineering, cybersecurity, cyber law and artificial intelligence, video game design, clinical psychology and mental health, psychology and international relations, and more. We're developing programmes that fit the marketplace, ensuring our graduates are equipped with the right tools to compete globally.

Technology is moving fast, but we're moving with it. The moment you fall behind, you can't catch up. Our university is highly digital with state-of-the-art digital infrastructure. We're using AI to our advantage and encouraging our students to use it ethically. We even run AI workshops for high school students in years 11–12.

We've even changed titles to reflect our priorities – our Vice Chancellor for Administrative and Financial Affairs is now the Vice Chancellor for AI and Operational Excellence. He runs numerous programmes for our faculty, staff, students, and high school students. We've renamed our HR department to Talent Empowerment and Growth, viewing our faculty, staff, students, and alumni as talents who need nurturing and support.

Abu Dhabi University is relatively young, only 21 years old, but our achievements in rankings, internships, and professional accreditation put us ahead of many Western universities. Being young gives us the spirit of adaptability and flexibility – we're agile and can move quickly. We have a board with vision, and we've created the right environment for our community to excel and leverage technology.

We're also addressing current challenges. Post-COVID, a report identified that 79% of students are concerned about mental health due to isolation, so we developed bachelor's and master's programmes in clinical psychology and mental health. Our programmes fit the marketplace and address topical subjects like healthcare, climate change, and sustainability, including renewable energy.

Innovation Report: I see you're fully embracing change and artificial intelligence. Some universities I speak with are fighting against AI in their courses, but as an emerging university, you're able to adapt quickly. It sounds like exciting times. Let me ask you a broad question: What does the word "innovation" mean to you?

Prof. Ghassan Aouad: There are many definitions of innovation. At one stage in my career, I was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at the University of Salford in the UK, so I've dealt extensively with this subject. We also have an innovation centre here.

I think innovation is when you come up with an idea that may lead to fruitful results. Personally, I believe it doesn't always need to lead to successful outcomes – it could result in failure in some instances, but you learn along the way how to become more innovative and creative.

In a research context, innovation involves taking research into the commercial stage and ensuring industry and government use it. But it can also occur at a smaller scale – a university project by a student or a business incubation activity. Even a student with a brilliant idea to set up a unique café on campus represents a small but significant innovation.

So innovation is about translating ideas and research findings into products or processes – it doesn't have to be a tangible product; it could be an approach or way of thinking. And there's a big difference between innovation and invention, which people often confuse. The gap between an idea and commercialisation can sometimes be 40–50 years, sometimes even 100 years – look at colour TV and how long it took from concept to the first broadcast.

Innovation Report: I'd like to pick up on a point you mentioned about failure in innovation. In the United Kingdom, our appetite for risk or failure isn't at the level of Americans, where an innovation culture almost celebrates failure, and it's something you can discuss in your next funding venture. There's still some embarrassment connected to failure in the UK, and it's even worse in other parts of the world. It's a cultural thing, and of course, not everyone has the funding available in certain areas of the United States to fully embrace failure. How do you believe you can create a culture or mindset where risk can be embraced? Maybe not celebrating failure, but understanding risk and failure as part of innovation, because I think this is one of the most difficult challenges.

Prof. Ghassan Aouad: It's a very good question, and this is reality. Sometimes success is the summation of failures. If you're too risk-averse, you can't accomplish anything in life. You have to take risks, but they must be calculated risks with strategies in place to handle potential failures.

We're part of a country that is highly innovative. The UAE's wise leadership has created this culture of innovation and creativity, encouraging people to move forward without excessive fear. You can't succeed all the time – that doesn't make sense.

At our university, we encourage our faculty, staff, and students to embrace the culture of innovation and take calculated risks. We can't afford to do something that might damage the university's reputation, but we can aim for products that may not materialise.

We're a courageous type of university. We embrace new ideas and have delivered well on many, though we may have failed on one or two. But that's fine. It's like doing a PhD – when you have your hypothesis, people assume you'll produce positive results. Sometimes you produce negative results and still earn an excellent PhD because you've proven an approach isn't viable.

The same applies to innovation. You try something, and if you fail, you share the lessons. Most startups and new companies experience failures – that's reality – but they've made the attempt. We take risks, calculated ones of course, with our board monitoring where we stand regarding risk areas. If you don't embrace a culture of taking risks, you can't accomplish much.

Innovation Report: So this is a culture you try to instil in your students for their future?

Prof. Ghassan Aouad: Yes, in our faculty, staff, and students. I'm very active on LinkedIn – I was a top LinkedIn influencer in Bahrain last year across all areas, not just higher education. I post many articles and sometimes discuss these issues very transparently because I want people to know what's happening.

I recently posted an article about "wasted professors," calling it "rethinking academic merit." In some parts of the world, regulatory bodies specify who should teach students – the ratio of PhD holders to non-PhD holders, industry people versus academics, and so on. I argued that our students should benefit more from industry professionals. Someone with 20 years of experience and a bachelor's degree, who has been exposed to a wide range of practical issues, could, in my view, provide deeper industry insights than a fresh PhD graduate who has never held a position in the industry.

I'm brave enough to raise these issues publicly, and people respond saying I'm courageous to address them. I do it with good intentions because I want everyone to understand that sometimes getting people from industry is better than having pure academics. You need both – the brilliant minds, ideas, and blue-sky research, but also someone to teach students practical skills to help them find jobs where employers will accept them right away.

Innovation Report: Practically, how do you work to bridge the gap that often exists between industry needs and university output? I see this in many places around the world. There can be frustration from either side, as they're often working toward different goals. But particularly for emerging countries to develop to the next level and move up the value chain, there has to be a strong connection between university leaders and industry leaders. What is your approach to bridging that gap?

Prof. Ghassan Aouad: We have strong connections with industry. Each of our programmes requires an industry advisory board to review our curriculum and ensure we're teaching relevant subjects. We invite industry speakers to talk to our students, and every student must complete a placement or internship – it's compulsory, whereas in the UK when I was there, it was optional. We also conduct research collaborations with industry.

In the UAE, the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has launched a new outcomes-based evaluation framework to assess quality in teaching, learning, research, and engagement in universities. Looking at the weightings of the six elements in that framework: employability outcomes count for 25%, learning outcomes 25%, industry collaboration 20%, research 15%, reputation 10%, and community engagement 5%. Industry collaboration means ensuring industrialists are involved in developing our curriculum, participating in teaching, and helping our students.

I think this is a step in the right direction from the regulatory body. We're convinced that by working with industry, everyone benefits – especially our students who gain insights from people with industrial experience who can tell them what's happening in the market. In this part of the world, the relationship with industry is very strong. The government and ministry encourage us to work closely together, which will lead to fruitful results for our graduates and students.

Innovation Report: You consider it an imperative on the national level for national development?

Prof. Ghassan Aouad: Absolutely.

Innovation Report: Let's get into a key part of the interview now and look at two or three projects you have underway or have completed at the university. This can be in any area of science, research and development, or innovation. If you were to pick out two or three projects, what would you consider your flagship initiatives?

Prof. Ghassan Aouad: We have many, but I'll mention a few I'm familiar with. One project focuses on 3D printing in civil engineering – a fantastic development. I believe buildings will eventually be printed, even tall buildings. We've seen examples of pilot studies in the UAE. Considering the destruction and wars across the globe, this technology could be ideal for manufacturing houses in just days or even hours. I see many opportunities for 3D printing facilities that could be put to good use, and it's very topical now.

In terms of initiatives, I'll mention a project called "Investing in Our Community," initiated and led by my colleague, Vice Chancellor Dr. Hamad Odhabi. We engage with the broader community – I've given several presentations for them, including one on "The Art and Science of Leadership," which was open to the public and broadcast on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Zoom, attracting over 500 people globally.

I also presented on "How to Succeed in Doing a PhD," drawing from my experience supervising 24 PhD students successfully in the UK. This was attended by over 500 people, mainly PhD students or prospective PhD students.

Through this "Investing in Our Community" initiative, we're helping school children, faculty, staff, and external stakeholders understand AI. We offer these services for free as part of our corporate social responsibility. It's been a very successful initiative, reaching perhaps 20,000–30,000 people, with the potential to benefit 100,000 people.

This is close to my heart – ensuring our knowledge isn't secretive but available to the public. Knowledge belongs to everyone, not just us. This approach has helped us immensely, earning the respect of the community and global market, with people from around the world attending these presentations. Dr. Hamad Odhabi is very popular on LinkedIn, broadcasting his AI lessons globally as part of this initiative.

I welcome this outreach approach – it has paid dividends. It has helped increase our student numbers, gain more research funding, and improve our rankings. ADU is now ranked 191 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and number two in the Arab world after King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals. For a 21-year-old university to be in the top 200 globally, out of 33,000 universities worldwide, is absolutely delightful. We're working hard by being open and transparent. Our competitive advantage is our transparency and making knowledge available to everyone.

Innovation Report: And to have that wider impact from it. Some really interesting projects you mentioned there. We do cover 3D printing quite a lot. One thing I always like to ask about is the impact of research or work and how, as a university leader, you try to measure real-world impact. When we look at a project like this, there is potential for social, economic, and environmental impact. How do you look at each of these areas and seek to measure your work? Again, if we can consider it socially, economically, and environmentally.

Prof. Ghassan Aouad: It's a very good question. Looking at impact, you can first classify academic impact, which is relatively easy to measure through publication quality, publication numbers, citations, h-index, and so on. What's really difficult is measuring social, economic, environmental, and quality-of-life impact – this is a universal problem, not just in the Gulf States.

When I was in the UK, I participated in the Research Assessment Exercise, which became the Research Excellence Framework, where impact was part of the assessment. People had to provide case studies for research conducted over 10 years and measure their impact in terms of economic impact, job creation, contribution to the economy, and social impact on the community.

This area needs to be addressed properly. Once you can measure a university's economic impact – not just research, but teaching, innovation, enterprise, and community relationships – you can convince industry to trust you and work with you more. When you provide figures showing how much an institution contributes to the economy, it makes a real difference. There's no doubt that ADU contributes significantly to the UAE economy each year.

You can measure economic impact through alumni working in industry, relationships with suppliers, and student contributions. In countries like the US, UK, and Australia, they've calculated how much students contribute to their national economies. We haven't done this detailed analysis in this region yet, but our research office is developing a methodology to measure the university's economic impact, including research.

Research impact is relatively easier to measure through jobs created, spinout companies, and economic contributions. But looking at the university as a whole – faculty, staff, students, alumni – gives you completely different figures. I want to measure ADU's total economic contribution to the UAE economy.

It's a very important question. I've tried to answer honestly rather than fabricating figures. This is an issue we've raised many times in the UAE and beyond – we need tools to measure universities' economic impact to show industry that we're major contributors to the economy.

Innovation Report: Once you really dig into your national impact, you see how wide it is, and each project itself can have tremendous impact. Bringing them all together is incredible – that's one reason I enjoy writing about this sector. For my final question: Our goal is to shine a light on emerging universities or markets that aren't always covered in Western media. When it comes to marketing Abu Dhabi University to the world or sending a message about your work, what key message would you like to communicate internationally at this time?

Prof. Ghassan Aouad: Based on my experience, I'd emphasise the use of social media. We're dealing with digital native generations – if you don't publicise and market your university activities on platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook, you're falling behind.

When I came to ADU two years and three months ago, there were hardly any LinkedIn posts about Abu Dhabi University. Now I post every day – I've tracked the statistics, which I shared in a post this morning. I've made nearly 1,200 posts in the last two years, posting twice daily about university achievements. Now everyone knows about ADU.

The culture we've created means that every day I find 10–15–20 posts from our faculty, staff, students, and alumni posting about the university and its achievements. It has gained a truly international reputation and image through using these platforms. This has helped us immensely and has been transformational in positioning us as a global university.

I post many articles about leadership and innovation, and it's vital for us to leverage social media to get our message out to the world.